Apparently Sammio are working with a Mr John Cheshunt in New York towards marketing the Miata-based Cordite.
I'm taking the liberty of quoting him; I don't think he would mind:
QUOTE
Hello everyone, My name is John Chesnut. I am an avid car guy. I have built a Lister replica, a Cobra, and designed and built several sports cars from scratch. One of them was featured in a magazine and some people wanted it, so I sold it as a Kit. That business was a hobby.
I was wanting to do a new project and had the idea of building a quality space frame into which the 1990-2004 Mazda Miata suspension cradles, drivetrain and mechanicals would bolt into. I was going to sculpt my own body, make molds and then make my own fiberglass body.
While researching 50's sports cars I came across Gary Jane's Sammio Spyder. I fell in love with the design. The Sammio was designed for the Herald. This car had a slightly longer wheelbase and was almost 6 inches narrower than a Miata. I contacted Gary. He widened the body for me and it is currently on a ship on it's way to me. I did not think that there would be a big market in the US for a Herald kit. So, I worked out a deal to sell the Miata based kit car. I don't believe in copying some one else's work with out permission and with out paying for it.
After striping down a Miata and taking some measurements I realized that the Sammio Spyder bonnet would not clear the Miata's engine and tall front shock towers with out modifications. During this time Gary was redesigning the bonnet to fit the shorter Spitfire chassis. The redesigned bonnet, I believe will also clear the Miata. I loved the redesign even more than the original. I will be making the change to my bonnet before I make the molds. My Miata based kit will feature the Cordite bonnet design.
I did a little research and found that there was a pretty good number of Spitfires sold in the US. I thought that there may be a market for the Spitfire based kit here. I contacted Gary about getting a body, mold, and body support frame for the Spitfire sent to me an then I would offer it along with my Miata kit.
I have been contacted by a few of you here. Thank you for your inquires. Obviously, I am not set up to sell anything yet. I thought that I should post some details here for all that are interested.
Gary is selling the bodies for around 1000 british pounds. With the exchange rate that comes to about $1,700 US dollars. He is selling the complete Cordite (Spitfire) kit for about 1700 British pounds. This is almost $2800 US. I am paying almost $3000 to have 1 body crated, shipped to the US and delivered to me. ( I am still waiting to find out if I have taxes or duty on top of this.)
My Miata based kit is more involved than Gary's Herald or Spitfire kit. The Miata is a Uni-body so I need to provide a complete frame. I have hired a retired GM Chassis engineer to work with me to develop a world class frame. T6-6061 precut-prebent aluminum panels will form the floors, bulkheads, and foot boxes. This kit will be very high quality and complete. Take 1 Miata, 1 kit, and except for paint, a customer will have every thing needed to build it. No welding, no fabrication required. This is a step beyond what Gary is doing. I am shooting to debut this kit at the May Carlisle Kit show. The target price for this kit is $4900.
I believe that it will be towards the end of summer before I receive the Spitfire parts from Gary. This means that it will be fall before I can start delivering them. The Miata based body skins will be $2100. The Spitfire based ones for $1900 Or the complete Spitfire based kit for $3100.
For those wanting the Herald based body I think that the best thing to do is to purchase the body designed for the Miata and then cut it in the middle and narrow it by 5.9 inches. The firewall and rear deck are in the right position for the Herald. A little length has to be added to the cockpit length to match the Heralds wheel base. I would make these changes and supply a finished body for $400 more. So, the Herald body would be $2500. At this time I don't think that there would be a large enough market to justify having Herald specific molds made.
I hope that this clarifies what I am doing and what I would be able to offer. Let me know if you have any questions. And, comments are welcome.
Having fun, John
UNQUOTE
